Nearly 20,000 Zambians living with HIV/AIDS are currently in care
with AHF Zambia, including 15,000 receiving antiretroviral treatment
(ART). Other AHF Zambia clinic and treatment sites include facilities in
Chikankata, Choma, Meheba, Monze and Twatasha.

In November 2013, AHF, together with a number of other organizations, kicked off '20x20' - a groundbreaking global effort to scale up the number of people on lifesaving AIDS treatment to ensure that 20 million people worldwide are on antiretroviral treatment by the year 2020. Of the thirty-four million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide today, twenty-four million people still do not have access to AIDS treatment. (Graphic: Business Wire)

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In November 2013, AHF, together with a number of other organizations, kicked off '20x20' - a groundbreaking global effort to scale up the number of people on lifesaving AIDS treatment to ensure that 20 million people worldwide are on antiretroviral treatment by the year 2020. Of the thirty-four million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide today, twenty-four million people still do not have access to AIDS treatment. (Graphic: Business Wire)

LUSAKA, Zambia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Honorable Jean Kapata, Mandevu Member of Parliament and the
Tourism and Arts Minister for the Republic of Zambia, will cut the
ribbon and help dedicate Chifundo a Clinic of Mercy, a new free
state-of-the-art anti-retroviral therapy (ART) HIV/AIDS treatment clinic
that is a collaboration between Zambia’s Ministry of Health and AHF
Zambia, a country program of AIDS
Healthcare Foundation (AHF). The ribbon cutting and dedication takes
place Wednesday, 14 May 2014. Over two hundred honored guests, health
centre staff and local residents are expected to attend the clinic
ceremony. AHF Zambia’s Chifundo ART Clinic is located in the Ministry of
Health’s Chaisa Health Centre in the Mandevu District of Lusaka, the
capital of Zambia.

Over one million Zambians are thought to be living with HIV/AIDS. Of
those, about 350,000 individuals are currently on lifesaving
antiretroviral treatment.

Chaisa compound is a densely populated area of Mandevu constituency in
Lusaka with a population of more than seventy-thousand people. It has a
high HIV/AIDS preference rate and the coming of Chifundo Clinic to this
area is a blessing to the people of Chaisa and other surrounding areas.
The organisation through its Clinic provides HIV treatment and care
services to the community for free. AHF also has a mobile HIV Testing
unit that goes into the community to conduct free HIV testing.

“It is a privilege to partner with the Ministry of Health and to take
part in the dedication of the new Chifundo ART Clinic today,” said Dr.
Lawson Simapuka, Medical Director for AHF Zambia. “This facility
will offer free HIV testing, counseling, treatment and care—including
the provision of antiretroviral treatment—mother & child health and
general outpatient psychosocial support, as well as providing free
condoms to the community. It is a much-needed resource, and one that we
hope will go a long way in helping to address and combat the HIV/AIDS
epidemic in Zambia.”

“The Government of the Republic of Zambia has prioritized making ART
available to all Zambians in need. We are honored to share that mission
with the government, and indeed all Zambians, as we dedicate and
celebrate the opening of the Chifundo ART Clinic—the first site in
Zambia that AHF has built from the ground up,” said Michael
Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “The combination
of commitment and expertise in clinical, public health and management
skills that are essential for successful HIV treatment programs are
brought together in this facility, which we envision as a touchstone of
successful collaboration in the fight against AIDS in Zambia.”

“AHF’s first undertaking in Zambia came about in 2004 when we officially
launched and dedicated the Salvation Army—AIDS Healthcare Foundation Muka
Buumi clinic at the Chikankata Hospital located in Mazabuka
District. Since then, AHF has conducted numerous HIV Medics training
programs in the country, training individuals who work under medical
supervision to assist in scaling-up ART services—an effort that may go a
long way to help address the need for treatment in Zambia,” said
Victoria Kalota, Country Program Manager, AHF Zambia.

"Our location in Chaisa, Lusaka is at one of the hot spots of the
epidemic in Zambia. With a prevalence of over 20% throughout the whole
Lusaka urban area, this clinic provides much needed hope for so many
clients to receive quality services and presents a model of public -
private partnerships in which complimentary efforts and pulling
resources together has enabled us have this magnificent building that we
dedicate today" said Dr. Penninah Iutung Amor, Africa Bureau
Chief for AIDS Healthcare Foundation, who is based in Kampala, Uganda.

Of the thirty-four million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide,
twenty-four million people still do not have access to AIDS treatment.
In response, in November 2013, AHF, together with a number of
other organizations, kicked off ‘20x20’
– a groundbreaking global effort to scale up the number of people on
lifesaving AIDS treatment to ensure that 20 million people worldwide are
on antiretroviral treatment by the year 2020.